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Tylenol case analysis
The case of James Richardson
Case study tylenol murderers question and answers
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Tylenol is one of the most used and common pain reliever in the world. But after seven murders in 1982, this number reduced dramatically, and the product was removed from sales until the city of Chicago was back under control. Many lawsuits were filed while there was no evidence to blame anyone. The mystery behind cyanide-laced Tylenol murders can be summed up in two theories: there is a killer or it was a production mistake. Although cyanide-laced Tylenol deaths are still a mystery to this day, this mass murder has been uncertain for over two decades. The 29th of September in 1982, seven Chicago locals died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol (“Cyanide-Laced Tylenol Kills Seven”). Astonishingly, all of the deaths were reported in “24 hours” …show more content…
Police first came to the conclusion that there were few bottles containing cyanide, so the culprit was outside of production of the product, also, if the contamination happened during the making of the Tylenol, then it would have ruined the outer-coating of the capsules (“Cyanide-Laced Tylenol Kills Seven”). Before more evidence was found, the police had no exact suspect until the company who distributes the medication, Johnson and Johnson, received a letter from someone named Robert Richardson. He demanded $100,000 from the company for him to “stop the killing” (Adame). To add to the mysterious letter, it turned out that the man’s real name was James Lewis, and he previously had been involved in a murder (Adame). This lead investigators to a suspect and a strong …show more content…
Investigators first discovered that there were no clues left behind if there was a killer (Newton). Thereafter, medical physicians toured the production facility and found that cyanide was once used at the facility (Newton). This gave them evidence that this mass murder could’ve been an accident in production or purposeful by a killer. On the other hand, a Forty-eight year old man named Roger Arnold, worked at a facility that supplied Tylenol. In his apartment, investigators found cyanide and a book that explained how to put poison in capsules (Adame). Because Arnold worked at the facility, he could’ve easily tampered with the already packaged bottles and inserted cyanide. Also, the FBI stated that it could’ve happened anytime; either during production or after (Schmidt). These pieces of evidence show that the possibility of it happening during production is
However, Fleig was not going to see a movie, he was looking to do something horrible and he did not care who the victim was. Once the film ended, Fleig sat in his car and scoped out who would be his easiest targets and he spotted Barbara and Patricia Grimes walking home by themselves. Fleig started his car and followed the girls until he saw the perfect opportunity to commit his crime. Now Max Fleig was a smart man, he did not want to kill the girls on the street and leave a noticeable cause of death. For this reason, he grabbed his gun and got out of the car and pointed it at the girls. He was not going to shoot them, he just did not want them to move. With a gun pointed at them, Barbara and Patricia Grimes listened to Fleig when he told them to get into his vehicle. Fleig did not beat them or anything he was actually fairly nice to them other than the fact he kidnapped them. Fleig knew what he was about to do and he was smart. He knew that there are poisons that are untraceable and the slightest chance of them being traced is gone if the bodies are hidden long enough. So Fleig took some arsenic, mixed it with sugar, and put it in the girls coffee when he offered them some. This is what killed Barbara and Patricia Grimes. They suffered from being poisoned for roughly 24 hours. Max Fleig knew of
Before the mid 1900’s the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was formed to tax those making, importing or selling any derivative of opium or coca leaves. In the 1920s, doctors became aware of the highly addictive nature of opioids and started to avoid treating patients with them (Center, 2004). In 1924 heroin became illegal. However according to a history published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003, anesthesiologists opened "nerve block clinics" in the 1950s and 1960s to manage pain without having to resort to surgery (Meldrum, 2003). This push for treating pain without surgery was a major factor in the opioid epidemic we see today. In 2008 the overdose death rate was almost four times the rate in 1999, and the sales of prescription pain relievers in 2010 were four times higher than in 1999 (Paulozzi et al, 2011). The substance use disorder treatment admission rate is also greater than in 1999, with it having been six times higher in 2009. Chasing Heroin’s claims surrounding the fear of prescribing pain medications is accurate as you see an increase in public policies surrounding opiate use in the early 1900’s. The climbing rates of overdose deaths and the increased amount of people seeking addiction treatment suggests that the fear of prescription opiates was
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
Possible hidden messages in the amino acid codes seemed to authorities like possible doings of Ivins, and he was resultantly placed under watch. Authorities found a copy of a book on amino acids in Ivins’ trash, further incriminating him. Charges were placed against him, but however, on July 27th, 2008, Ivins died in the hospital, after intentionally overdosing on Paracetamol, an over-the-counter pain reliever, in what the authorities believed to be an attempt to avoid his charges. The authorities had lost their strongest suspect, and the investigation began to dwindle. The investigation included over ten thousand witnesses, spanning six continents. 1 year and 6 months later, the investigation was forma...
One morning in 1911, Jasper Newton Daniel showed up to work early. He tried to open the safe in his office but had forgotten the combination. Out of frustration he gave the safe a good solid kick. The blow broke his toe and would lead to a blood infection which took his life a couple of weeks later. Jasper never married and had no children but had grown very close to his nephew Lem Motlow, whom he deeded the distillery to. One of Lem’s accomplishments was getting the company incorporated before his death in 1947.
...ot the drug was solely responsible for the deaths, since they died from various causes, such as pulmonary embolism or cardiac infarction.
The Drug enforcement Administration has targeted as a top priority the illegal use of the prescription painkiller OxyContin in the wake of what the agency says is a dramatic and dangerous increase in the drug's availability. Simply crushing the tablet can negate the controlled-release effect of the drug, enabling abusers to swallow or snort the drug for a powerful morphinelike high. The tablet can also be crushed, mixed with water and injected. In this paper I discuss the abuse of OxyContin and other prescription painkillers.
Fatal complications occur from regular use, for example, liver damage, seizures, elevated blood pressure causing stroke, heart failure, or heart attack. Another growing fad in the United States is the abuse of prescription drugs. The abuse is being done by not only adults, but by teens. The most current trend today is the misuse of cough syrups and prescription medications to produce a “high.” Other medications abused today are stimulants (Ritalin), and benzodiazepines (Xanax).
The Pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, is manufacturing and falsely marketing highly addictive prescription drug, OxyContin, in the United States. According to the CDC (Center for Disease control), opioid deaths have gone up 400% since 1999. Purdue Pharma, is deceiving the public about the safety of opioids. They are engaging in marketing campaigns and claiming that these harmful painkillers can be prescribed without a significant risk of addiction. When in fact, people do become addicted to painkillers, and nearly 90 of them lose their life each day due to opioid overdose. OxyContin was first introduced in 1995, and it was Purdue Pharma’s first major painkiller. According to FDA, OxyContin was supposed to be taken every 8 hours, but Purdue
In 2011, the media reported that in US prisons a sedative used for death penalty purposes was not being used as intended by the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck. The drug Nembutal as well as others were mixed into a cocktail and administered to prisoners undergoing the death penalty. Lundbeck got word of this from
Tylenol's 1982 ordeal has become a classic example of a successful crisis management. Johnson & Johnson faced a major crisis when their leading pain-killer medicine, extra-strength Tylenol, was found to have caused the fatalities of seven people in Chicago, Illinois. It was reported that unknown suspect or suspects took the product off store shelves, tampered it with deadly cyanide and returned to the shelves. As a result, seven people died and consumers lost confidence and panicked over hearing the news of this incident. Tylenol received massive media coverage which led to an expeditious communication of event to the public. Johnson & Johnson (J & J) took a huge financial hit when it had to recall and destroy approximately $100 million dollars worth of inventory in addition to the loss incurred by the company when the public reacted to the incident (Campbell et. al., n.d.). Tylenol's approach was to pull off the products as quickly as possible, stopped production, cooperated with the investigation and the media and halted all forms of advertisement or marketing of the product. Furthermore, Johnson's & Johnson's took the initiative to protect and improve their product packaging which allowed them to regain the public's confidence and paved the way for improved tamper-resistant packaging now used by myriad of manufacturing companies. The fatalities occurred between September 29th to October 1st of the year 1982 and by November, Tylenol had already reintroduced the product with improved tamper-resistant packaging. To regain the public's attention and confidence, Johnson's & Johnson's launched a dynamic marketing campaign to put the product's name before the public.
A 12-year-old girl named Mary Kellerman was the first victim of the Tylenol Murders. Kellerman, who lived in Chicago suburb Elk Grove Village was not feeling well on September 29, 1982. She was given an extra-strength Tylenol capsule to relieve a sore-throat, and her parents later found her unconscious. Kellerman died on the way to the hospital, and it was assumed that she had died of a stroke. However, three similar deaths soon followed. The same day as Kellerman’s death, 27-year-old Adam Janus of Arlington Heights was hurried to a local hospital where he died, suspected of a major heart-attack. The connection between Kellerman and Janus’ deaths were that both...
In 1982 Tylenol was the leading over the counter pain medicine in the United States. Starting in September of 1982 the first of seven people died in Chicago after taking extra-strength Tylenol capsules containing 65 milligrams of cyanide. In October of 1982 investigators made the connection between the poisoning deaths and Tylenol capsules.
Forensic toxicologists have faced numerous challenges throughout the 1800’s and are still facing some of these challenges today. In Gettler’s and Norris’s time of being head of forensics in New York, they faced problems within toxicology study, and some out of toxicology. One of their main problems was metabolizing a poison and determining the lethal dose.
... many as ten different drugs coursing through his body, taking control of his brain, his heart. Four of the drugs were in what the medical examiner would describe as "significant amounts." These were codeine, ethinamate, methaqualone and unidentifiable barbiturates. He had also taken a number of Placidyl and Valium capsules, both tranquilizers, and unknown quantities of Demerol and Meperidine, both painkillers. Bringing the amazing total to ten were morphine and chloropheniramine, an antihistimine that by itself would make its user sleepy.